Californian Episcopal bishops send letter of concern to Trump: Calls for reconsideration of Environmental Protection Agency head and cabinet appointments

During the month of December, the Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, Bishop of California, gathered support from all Episcopal bishops in the state of California on a group letter voicing concern over President-elect Trump’s intended appointment of Scott Pruitt as head of the Environmental Protection Agency. The bishops also state their continuing support for all people in the United States and call for him to be “a leader for all […] but especially [a] protector for the vulnerable” by reconsidering his cabinet choices. The letter was sent today, December 29, to President-elect Trump in hard copy and electronic form. Letter in full included below:

December 29, 2016

Donald J. Trump
President-elect of the United States of America
Trump Tower
735 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10022

Dear President-elect Trump,
Recently (December 12, 2016) our brother and sister bishops in the Episcopal Church in the State of Massachusetts wrote you to strongly question and oppose your nomination of a climate-change denier to be the head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Like the bishops in Massachusetts, we, the Episcopal bishops in the State of California oversee a body of faithful people who pray for our country’s leadership every Sunday. We have faithfully prayed for President Obama over the last eight years, and we are already naming you to God, for your safety and protection, and for wisdom from God in the leadership of our country and in the councils of the nations of the world. There are 422 Episcopal congregations in the State of California, and they carry you in their prayers to God, as do we.
We join with the Episcopal Bishops of Massachusetts in questioning and challenging your choice for the head of the Environmental Protection Agency. The great majority of reputable scientists recognize not only the reality of human-induced climate change, but the looming danger to our children and grandchildren from the worst, unchallenged effects of climate change. We have a slender period of time in which we can, with great concerted effort, and under your leadership, avert the worst consequences of climate change for future generations. We need you and your cabinet to work hard to prevent a bad future for all of the world’s children and all of life on the planet.
We also wish to register with you our strong, continuing and resolute support for the rights and dignity of refugees and immigrants in the United States, for people of all faiths, and especially Muslims and Jews who continue to be the objects of prejudice and hatred, for women, for people of color, indigenous peoples and for those economically disadvantaged. It is our belief that the President of the United States is a leader for all the people of the United States, but especially he or she is protector for the vulnerable. We ask you to re-examine your choices for your cabinet in light of your responsibility to guard the dignity and welfare of all.
Recently we celebrated the birth of Jesus, who has taught us, by his radiant life, how we should live. His life informs our call to you, our President-elect.
Faithfully,
The Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, Bishop Diocesan of California
The Rt. Rev. Barry L. Beisner, Bishop Diocesan of Northern California
The Rt. Rev. Diane M. Jardine Bruce, Bishop Suffragan of Los Angeles
The Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, Bishop Diocesan of Los Angeles
The Rt. Rev. Mary Gray-Reeves, Bishop Diocesan of El Camino Real
The Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes, Bishop Diocesan of San Diego
The Rt. Rev. David C. Rice, Bishop Diocesan of San Joaquin